>>9799115Studying fundies increases your drawing skill in the long run and lets you draw successively more and more complicated things. Artist studies improve your skills in the short run.

If you've found a style and have no further drive to improve, then it's fine to stop grinding do personal work until you hit a wall. Obviously if you don't study you won't get better, but if you don't wanna study then don't.

>>9799115Yes, know your fundamentals, but don't think that means you have to be da Vinci tier good. Just, ya know, don't suck. Most customers in the AA are willing to look past a tiny anatomical error here and there if you have flashy art, pretty art, that nice painterly style (good rendering in general will save a sale- polished turds sell!), art of a character without much art, etc.

But they've separated the AA into 2d vs 3d art which makes it shitty for us artists that sell those artsbovine pencil bags, enamel pins, and prints. They just let the 2d section sell acrylic charms for 2018 but I think that means the 3d section can't sell them now?

It's just a clustercuss. If you sell just prints, keychains, and buttons, I'd recommend it.

I'm an avid con goer and have thought about doing aa but haven't yet. It always gives me a weird passive aggressive feeling. My my reasoning behind that I feel like everyone just does what everyone else is. If I see a new product one year by one artist, then the next year every artist suddenly has it too. Just how bad is copying among each other? Can you share some stories??

I even recall a few months ago an anon talking about how they wanted to do custom acrylic keychains where they slide a picture in, and a lot of people said they wanted to steal the idea.

Or is it really copying when you get to areas like cat mermaids and similar bat pin designs?

>>9799601If the specific idea isn't patented, of course it's going to get "stolen". AA is a very small market and trends spread quickly. Really nothing you can do about it except keep up with the times.

>>9799542I second what Corky said - if your primary seller is paper merch (and now acrylics, I suppose), do it. But if you rely also on things like pencil pouches, enamel pins, etc etc, reconsider unless you're local.

I'm local and I would still rather fly out to some US cons that weekend but AN has me like an abused spouse, oh, I'm so lucky they're going to let us sell acrylic charms this year! Doesn't hurt to apply for a lotto number annyway.

It's still shitty and I try not to support artists who do it. Many of them do it purposefully and with full awareness, knowing that taking these general concepts is not illegal. It's still really disrespectful to other artists. It's a bummer to always be striving to be innovative and find new things to help you stand out while knowing that the next year or the next con someone will be stealing your idea to try and help THEM stand out, and then eventually it just becomes a table norm. I still remember when acrylic charms used to be rare and special. Same thing with enamel pins.

I find the best way around it is to do very specific things. Name your characters, develop them, give them personality beyond "cat mermaid." They don't sell as well as a very generalized cat mermaid that says "cat mermaid" on the package but people can't rip your shit in the same way, and so you do stand out and get attention, and you're more memorable in the end. You'll find more fans that genuinely care about your work, because there is substance to connect with. I find that more valuable to me than making the quick bucks.

>>9799816I used to live in Philly, and anime cons never did well there for some reason. Shikkaricon even went on hiatus and this is their return year, so it might as well be a first year con.

There was also J1 con, and they are moving to NJ this year because Philly doesn't seem to have a big interest in anime (many artists said they only made table back last year). I think it's because of the art schools always discouraging it. Or that's the way it was some years ago when I was there.I'm not trying to discourage you from going, but this is what I know.

>>9799601Pretty bad. I had a mutual copying my friend's charms and art. She also uses official art and logos. When I called her out she deleted it off her social medias but still sells at cons. What sucks is that she gets into big name juried cons.

For those of you that have experience making/printing your own zines. Do you have a recommended printer? I've been thinking about getting the Canon Pixma 100 (gonna see if I can find one on ebay). Still doing research on printers vs ordering through a shop

>>9799804As one of the first people to do clear double sided acrylic charms in AA (early 2014, there was one person who sold them in AA late 2013 i think tho), like sure it would have been really cool if i were the only person selling them still but get real lol. Something like acrylic charms, enamel pins, pouches or new techniques in general are not exclusive.

I also did a pretty successful series of prints 1- 2 years ago that have been "copied" but at the end of the day I wasn't the first person ever to do the concept on earth, just like i wasn't the first person ever to do clear acrylic charms on earth, and saying i should have the right to do it exclusively in the AA is silly and unrealistic. Sure i would love to just never innovate and only have to sit on one good idea for the rest of my life but in this society it's just not gonna happen. People want to survive, they will chase good ideas. I have to keep coming up with new ones, but it's because of the predicament society puts us in. not because ~~stealing general ideas is plagiarism~~ I don't hold it against anyone as long as they make the idea their own enough. I can tell when someone does a lazy copy and when someone does a really good spin off, let me decide and don't judge people on my behalf.

We'll have to agree to disagree. Also "judging people on your behalf" was not what I was doing, I have a general opinion on uncreative people who are just in it for the $$ and used acrylic as a vague example. In truth once a company offers a service there is nothing morally wrong with using it, my specific issues are with people who use very specific options in similar ways because they already saw someone do it. For example, why there are tons of clear acrylic succulent tank charms. There are a billion things you can put in a clear tank and make a charm of but everyone does fucking succulents because they saw it and they're boring.

Please don't use the ownership you feel over that medium to tell people they aren't allowed to have these opinions and speaks them. There are plenty of people who have their ideas copied who feel differently from you.

Just saying, there are lots of trends that don't get made into charms until someone else takes that step first. Most of those people would have never dreamed in the their whole life of using the layering in that way. That's my point.

>>9801303That's literally the concept of a trend. If no one ever did something similar to something they saw, trends wouldn't exist. There are a ton of other takes on the clear plant charm, too.You sound extra salty.

>>9801795Can we please stop bitching about other artists doing better or having more followers in this thread?If you want to ask for suggestions on how to improve your sales or your reach, fine, but complaining that someone sells a lot better than you is just petty, unproductive bs for a /cgl/ thread.

>>9801868tbf at least half of the time its just two people genuinely having the same idea, especially for shit like specific animal/food hybrids or acrylic charms 'cleverly' utilizing the transparent material.

>>9801984Nauti stepped down as an admin, she posted on the FB page earlier. She seemed nice from the minimal interaction we had on posts, but I don't know shit about what they're actually like in discord. A lot of the admin/mod team seem fake bubbly/friendly imo.

>>9801984why do people never realize that attempting to act like a mod or do a mod/admins duties isn't helpful, its fucking annoying and confusing for other members. Someone seems to be a little upset that their 'helpful' contribution wasn't fawned over.

Do they actually think that its impressive/cool/edgy to say they would've thrown a tantrum and tried to destroy things like a spoilt child if they were a mod?

>>9801984Holy shit, Amanda's such a dumb cunt. Nauti was useless af and it was wearing the mods down. And Viv is always doing 5000x the work, so what gives with targeting her? So Amanda, if you're reading this, go fuck yourself and stay out of AANI with that shit.

>tldr there is no drama, just a shift in mods to be more efficient without literal dead weight

>>9802009I looked through their contributions to the group and they were not trying to act as a moderator or administrator. From what I gather there was a falling out possibly between Nauti and other monderators which spurred on her resignation. This post was made by a friend of Nauti. Sure it was over the top and a little ridiculous, but it seems there is some truth behind what they wrote.

>>9802005Agreed on the last part. After a few interactions with some of the current moderators it was clear that distance needed to be maintained. There are some genuinely awesome people and resources on AANI, it's a shame it's bogged down by clique bullshit.

>>9802019Nauti was not someone I particularly liked but she was constantly contributing to pinned posts, setting up groups and coordinating events. Also, Vivian is a moderator, not an administrator. Her role is to deal with posts in the group, while the administrator takes care of making sure the group and team runs efficiently. Both were fulfilling their roles so I'm not sure what you're on about, but if you have proof feel free to share.

>>9802040lol right my shit got deleted before i could post contextsorry anon i'll try to be better for you baby

3 mods (Viv, MJ, and Zen) resigned. When staff reached out to them via Daz with an attempt to negotiate, a 'her or us' situation was forced. Nauti left it to the group majority of the staff to make the decision and was forced out by the 4 dissenting members, essentially.

At least, that's what I've managed to pry out of Nauti. She's super hurt over this since she thought she was better friends with Viv than that. I also remember there being an event in the past where they had a disagreement over a problem member and Viv threatened to walk if she didn't get her way, but IDK how recent this was since my personal life has been a shitstorm recently and I don't have the best memory when it comes to events being in linear position.

Amanda's actions are her own. I have asked her to stop stirring things, and I am asking the same of everyone else. It's no secret that this board has never supported me, or been very fond of the AANI, but the hurtful comments being made are really unnesecary.

I have only ever done what I felt was best for the group as a whole, and sadly that includes my resignation.

For those who are being supportive, thank you. For those who aren't, I have nothing positive to say to you. :)

I have not asked for Amanda to stir the pot, and I have asked her, as I am asking everyone else, to let it go.

It hurts me to see some of the comments here, but this board has never really supported me or liked AANI so I can't say I'm surprised.

I have only ever done what I felt was best for the group as a whole. Sadly it came to a point where that meant my resignation. I look forward to having some free time now to focus on personal projects.

For those of you who have been supportive, thank you. For those who are shitposting about me, have fun with that.

I haven't interacted on AANI very much but when I was, I always saw you doing work, and every interaction I had with you was great. Inclined to believe you were not in the wrong here. Sorry this happened to you.

That said, I bet AANI will be even more entertaining after this power grab. Looking forward to all the new kinds of fuckups.

>>9802846I'm hoping last year was just a one time disaster. I applied again this year just because I did still make a profit last year, just not a huge one like I usually do. I'm hoping things will go back to normal this year.

>>9803360Congratulations, anon. Make sure to post your table location when we get closer to the con. I like to stop by all of the gull tables and buy a few things. I wish they included links to people's portfolios. I made the mistake of not planning out which artists I'd stop by last year and it took forever to find everyone in that mess.

>>9803380>>9803383What annoys me is that it's not like there were just 400 amazing artists. A lot of these artists are kind of trash. Like I'd be surprised if they broke even trash. It was that way last year, too. I guess that $275 a table is paying the cost of the convention center.

I have a few original works in my AA lineup that continuously do well. I was thinking I'd print them on nicer paper, and I was looking at Moo's Luxe postcards. I've used the postcards before for both my graduation and wedding invitations but neither of those were full color like these prints would be. Has anyone used them for prints? Any similar suggestions? If it helps, I'm a watercolor artist.

>>9803437My order last month went quickly and smoothly, but after submitting files for my last order on Wednesday, I got an email this morning telling me they're OUT of the kind of wood I ordered. Thanks for making sure you were well-stocked before running a sale on wooden charms, asshats!

where can i find different connectors for the wire cube display parts? the ones that came with mine are really only useful for the cube formation, but i'd like to be able to fiddle with the angles and shit

>>9804860Don't use madebycooper anon, it's a middleman company and they don't bother with quality checking apparently. This is just warnings from a friend, sorry I can't give you any more helpful info.

>>9805816As much of a pain it is, I use the largest possible suitcase I got and a carry-on sized suitcase. My carry-on would have my prints, buttons and charms and my large suitcase would have everything else display-related. If you got a good large tote-bag, carry your grids in that, otherwise the large suitcase could hold them (or whatever that can't fit in your tote). It shouldn't be a problem to carry down into the subway, not sure about whether or not you'd be fine on a bus.

>>9805813I always recommend taking the train in, especially one of the commuter trains. The commuter trains don't really care how much stuff you lug in, especially if you go during off peak hours. Amtrak is a lot more expensive and has cracked down on how many bags you can bring before they start charging you. A lot of people uber it in and out, but they often blow way more money than they mean to. As for transporting your supplies and merch, I recommend large hard shell suitcases with 360 wheels. No one will look at you twice on the train or subway, and they'll roll smoothly through the subway and under the turn styles if you can't get out through the emergency door. I live along the Metro North line and I come in with 2 large rolling suitcases, my banner stand, and a backpack for personal items with no trouble. They're SUPER HEAVY, but as long as your wheels are good you'll be fine.

>>9806020Train would be a little more reasonable if the bus looks like that. My last two cons required me to take my luggage in/out through LIRR and travel back and forth through subway. If you got an MTA/Amtrak stop nearby, best idea is to ride it to whatever stop you need to get off and figure out subway or walking route from there.>>9806385Seconding this anon

It has been almost 2 months since I shipped an international order out to a customer and he still hasn't gotten the item. The tracking updates every once and a while. There anything I can do? It last updated 10 days ago.

Had a con last year where the con messed up the table layout so there were less breaks in the row than the map had. When I went down the line and asked if we could compensate by narrowing the main exit by a foot and half to add an extra exit, this bitch immediately bit my head off that the discussion had already happened and no one was moving. I had to climb over her huge fucking display every time I needed the restroom. I made sure to noticeably bump into it every time.

Before someone yells at me about fire codes, about an hour after I got yelled at the people on the other side of the opening did it on their side and narrowed our exit anyway.

aye sorry for asking but anyone else realize the vograce shop isnt on alibaba? I asked an aa about and they said they were just redorating and they still are Im just paranoid about it, jw if anyone else freaked out and noticed too

>>9807657My table partner has a bunch of larger plush items and i am constantly afraid of being in other peoples way as a result. Yall have any ideas how to store that shit nicely aside from cramming several 3ft tentacle body pillows under our table? We're running out of room there too.

>>9809281Try vacuum storage bags, basically you put the plush in the bag and suck all the air out with a vacuum cleaner, it takes a lot less room. It works really well on things that have a lot of air in them, like pillows and comforters, so it's ideal for plushies. And they spring back up when you open the bag to their normal size, like nothing ever happened!

Do you need to make correction on the fanime artist agreement? All the information is correct but they put my full name as my first name, the second artist box is empty when I’m sharing with a friend and signed up together.

>>9809416I did the same, but assumed they would figure it was a mistake? Signed everything with my first and last name, so it'd be obvious. They may address this eventually if it's happening with everyone else.

This is so stupid to me. The end result looks completely different from the photos. They are using the structure of the face as reference and that's it. It's not much different from using photo reference for real people. If they were copying colors and the tiny details of the expressions too then it would be unacceptable, but even those things are all different.

>>9810600The end results really aren't that different though and they're clearly derivative works, which artists should be clear about when posting otherwise they run into situations like this where they are branded as liars, etc. Using a photo as a reference is one thing, but this is beyond "using a resource to understand the object I'm drawing" and straight up ripping off another artist.

>>9810622Use a single color and draw with a small soft (but high density) airbrush. Once you're done, use a clipping mask over that to color the lines - don't try to do it all at once or you'll drive yourself nuts.

>>9810600>They are using the structure of the face as reference and that's it.but the issue is that they are using BJDs. BJDs are made by artists, sculpted etc. and all of the sculpters/companies that own them have called him out on it. it's different than using a posing tool or 3DCG. it's like saying it's not theft to trace over a picture of an anime figurine.

But if you own a BJD and use it for drawing reference people don't give a shit. It's silly that the difference between something being protected art and a tool is whether you can afford a 1500$ piece of plastic. I appreciate that artists sculpt them but they allow their owners to modify and customize them how they wish, and photograph the results. There are some truly awful custom BJDs. Why is the line drawn after someone draws a picture of one?

Yes the artist should have been honest. I just don't think it merits this level of dedication to call them out on it.

>>9810724Don't be afraid to fuss with the settings on your brushes. You can adjust the "edge shape", or basically the spread of your brush as well as the density/opacity of them which is what you'd have to do for that really soft look.

slightly deviating from the topic, but what is looked down upon as a vendor in AA?I know a girl who goes to thrift shops and sees anything that "might have a fanbase" and tries to resell it at her booth for double the price. She also upcharges the fuck out of those colorful schoolgirl uniforms you can get on amazon for like $15.

>>9810832Do you mean selling in exhibitors? Because AA is for derivative fan works, not reselling of licensed or unbranded mass produced products.

In any case, the rule of thumb among people I've talked to is product price + 20-30% convenience fee is considered reasonable. A very large portion of vendor booths do more like 40-60%... but also, Vendors are seeing a decline in profits with their customer base now being able to google on their phone how much a product is worth.

>>9810843>Vendors are seeing a decline in profits with their customer base now being able to google on their phone how much a product is worth.I understand that no one likes overpaying but imo people in general are too retarded to understand that some things might be priced different for a lot of reasons.

>>9810745>People drew and cosplayed as their dolls and it drove them into a frenzy... I'd be honored as hell if this happened to me with any of my ocs. >>9810848This... A lot of the artists charge the way we do is because of the hours and materials spent on making the product. People like to say, "it only costs $2 to produce a print." But you can spend a good 20-hours creating the illustration. And then if it's traditional art and scanned, you are also using material.

>>9810941Yeah no one other than poorfags who shouldn't be at cons to begin with and middle schoolers think artists are overpricing when they mark their prints up from the cost of production. As for dealers, I do price I'd find the figure for on AmiAmi + cost of shipping + 10-15% convenience fee to get the item right now. If the item is less than that, I consider it a deal. Sure, the figure might be worth $20, but after you spend another $20 to ship it to you and you have to wait two weeks to get it in the first place, that $60 wasn't so bad after all.

I'm looking for someone to commission a character portrait (human) for use as a Live2D + FaceRig render. I'm interested in someone that has a relatively simple and clean style with good proportions [see image example]. I'd like a psd file with facial and hair items separated on different layers (or at least, layered so I don't have to paint any missing parts myself), and I would rig it myself.

Where do you guys think would be the best place to find someone that would understand what I'm asking to be drawn?

How much should I expect this to cost me? I'm expecting between $50-$70, but if that's not accurate, please correct me! How much extra do you think people would ask for if I were to make video content with it? (I haven't a clue here!)

>>9811022if you want it in a high resolution with multiple facial expressions that sounds like a kind of low price range but I don't do commissions so I don't really know. And I guess it depends on if you intend to merchandise/profit off of the videos?

>>9811024Doesn't really require multiple facial expressions, but does require closed mouth, half-open mouth, and open mouth. Everything else is mostly produced by manipulating the Live2D software and rig.

I wanted to focus on Twitch streams, and those can get saved onto Youtube. So, yes to merchandising /profit, but I'm not expecting to earn a lot at all. (Not trying to be a full-time content creator or anything like that.)

This makes me so angry. You are not only commissioning the art, you also want full ownership and copyright of the art transferred to you, for no more than $70? Single illustrations for professionals run $200 on the lowest end when production rights are transferred. A complicated multilayered PSD file like this shouldn't be any less than $300 depending on how many revisions you demand and how long the artist takes. You are asking for not only a ton of work (as someone who used to do flash animations, a layered file with all pieces fully drawn is a ton of work, even if it's just a simple character), but you also want full rights to the work purchased from the artist, so that you can potentially profit off the art. Think to the far future if you became popular and your work was earning a lot and you had only paid that artist $70 for the cornerstone artwork for your brand. Pay them more than the cost of a fucking video game.

Have Vograce charm prices gone up for anyone else? Or is this a normal thing. Last year I ordered 140 charms and it was about $150. Ordering the same amount now with the same specifications as the ones from last year and now it's 240. Heard Coco gives more expensive prices then Vicky, so might go to her instead.

>>9811022Anon you're gonna want to bump up your prices if you plan on having full ownership and copyright. I charge $60 bucks for portraits, so if you picked someone like me i'd charge you commercial prices. Which would be 60x4.

I sell in AA and of course my mark up on prints, charms, etc include cost of labor and other factors. But for Dealers/Vendors purchasing I look at item cost online +20-30%. Which ends up being fairly similar to the number >>9810986 comes up with for shipping + 10-15%.

>>9811038Come on, anon was hella polite and clearly didn't know that they were asking for more rights to the image than is standard for basic commissions, the number they threw out is on the low end of reasonable for what they're requesting if they weren't asking for any rights.

>>9811022My first thought was the Lemma Soft forums might be a good place to fish for art talent, they're a community for creating english-language VNs, so the people there generally understand game and video asset creation. The actual commission section of the forums can be hit or miss and a little dead, but if it's not looking great right now you could browse around the threads of people with finished/in progress commercial games, find artists you like there, and then follow their info to twitter etc to see if they're taking work elsewhere. March is the middle of the annual game jam (NaNoRenMo) so there will be a lot of people around.

And, yeah. Expect to pay commercial level prices the second you mention you want to be able to use the art in your own creative endeavors. Standard commission prices are generally based off of a "personal use only" set of limited usage rights.

>>9811068Put an order with coco last may and put in another order earlier this year for the exact same thing - the price almost doubled.

I dunno if it's just coco or with the others, but I wouldn't be surprised if prices went up all around. Think of how popular they've gotten in the past year alone - they can raise their prices and they know it. this is why you don't tell everyone you know your sources FFS

>>9811068oh god, yes. I feel like every time I order the prices go up.

>>9811118Seriously, now every other post on AANI is like "I use Vograce!! :)))" and UGH please go back to zap.

I wonder how much longer Vograce will be able to keep pulling off their turnaround times. Coco has always been a blessing and is incredibly fast for the amount of work my friends and I give her, but I can only imagine how orders are growing exponentially.

How far is too far when it comes to "being inspired" by something? I think I'm just getting really paranoid what with all the searching capabilities on the internet now (or maybe not and this is legitimately copying), but I was inspired by a design I saw online and wanted to emulate the technique on a product of my own.Now, I know, this already sounds bad, but the thing is that the idea is really generic and I'm sure it's been done millions of times, but a) it's the same type of product and b) the same colors. Of course I'm not tracing anything--it's in my own style (by this I mean drawing style) and definitely not the same content, but is this not okay? Or am I just thinking too much? (Sorry if I'm being too vague)I've tried reimagining in different colors, trying a different style approach, but after having been "inspired" I just can't get this design out of my head, sigh.

>>9811148My price actually went down. I paid $1.89 pc last order and this time it was $1.59.

Stupid question time. I have had many double sided charms printed before but this will be my first with text on it. Coco sent me an outline and as is the norm, one side is mirrored but the next is now mirrored too. Will that be the correct way around on the final product? I'm imagining it probably will be but need my mind put at rest

>>9811217Interesting. One thing I don't like about vograce is how inconsistent their prices are...even with the same person, sometimes it's like they just throw out whatever number they feel like that day lmao. I've never gotten the same unit price for anything lol. Well, I guess it's somewhat understandable since there are so many variations across designs...but whatever, as long as they're still cheaper than everyone else it's fine.

Also, you'll need to reverse the text on the back yourself by submitting another (flipped) file with the correct orientation. Whatever Coco puts in the proof is pretty much what comes back (aside from printing errors, etc), because they don't know what you want unless you tell them. Did you only send her one file and ask her to flip it?Unfortunately if you already okayed and paid, those probably won't turn out correctly...

>>9811165It depends on what kinds of charms you got, but assuming you got clear then that seems about what I got a few months ago (raised from the order before that).

>>9811022With all due respect, I did a similar project where I had to draw a cat and mouse character with their legs and tails on different layers. The character designs already existed, so I didn't even have to do that part. I was paid $700.

You're asking for a couple days' worth of work plus useage rights. This is much more than a portrait commission of your OC.

No you should never move forward with something that you know is copied (you can say "inspired" and "emulate" all you want but this is what it is in the end when you are talking about using the same product, concept, colors, and style approach, and that you want to do it because you saw it somewhere already).

Have some imagination. There are lots of ways to execute similar concepts and still have them be just as good.

>>9811038This is kinda why I've been staying away from asking the anime art community directly. It feels like you didn't really read over my post at all.

I asked for a range because I don't know how much it'd cost. I've gotten non-commercial commissions done for myself for less than $50 (price from the artist + I tipped afterward if it was beyond awesome), so that's why I guessed at $50-$70, but also opened the floor to corrections. I also asked how much EXTRA it'd cost to get it for commercial rights and admitted I didn't know ranges for that at all. I was not asking for the entire rig for $50-$70, I was asking for working artist's quotes on how much I should EXPECT to pay, so I can be ready to pay that.

If I were to someday become famous with this asset, maybe the artist would argue for different kinds of monetary rights at the beginning, such as $200 upfront for the art asset, and then 5% of my ad/monetary earnings up to a cumulative limit of $1000, paid every six months. If I don't become famous, then it's not like they missed out on anything. If I do become famous, they would have earned $1200 from the work over time. [Would artists contemplate this at all?]

You sound very salty for an artist. I would not wish to work with you. Thank you for your comment.

You seem knowledgeable in this field. If I were not to profit off of the asset (no youtube ad monetization, no prints, no merchandise, etc), would using the asset to make videos or streaming on Twitch still be 'personal use only'? What about Twitch donations?

Personal use basically means the art isn't displayed anywhere beyond your own home, and isn't edited in any way. Generally you're not even supposed to post the art to social media without asking first - it's expected that you would retweet/reblog/etc from the artist's own social media so they retain credit and exposure.

You could ask about licensing the art under a Creative Commons style set of limited usage licenses (sourcing and linking back to the artist required in video descriptions, derivative works OK, profit not OK unless further rights are purchased) with the option to purchase ownership later on if you do decide to monetize, but I personally don't know any artist who would go for that if you're not already a repeat client. It's too risky to give all full files to a complete stranger and trust that if they want to use it the way most people would use such a file that they'll contact you later and pay more.

>>9811636Ntayt but why did you even list a price range to begin with of you are so open about how much to pay and wanting to find out? Giving that $50-$70 indicates that's what you expect and want to pay. Then you try to save face when getting called out on your bs price range.

Anon sounds salty because so many people expect to be able to pay change for art. If you never gave a price at start and simply asked how much with the details of what you wanted, you wouldn't have gotten that kind of response.

You sound selfish for someone who wants to consider artists. I wouldn't want to work with you.

>>9811636>You sound very salty for an artist. I would not wish to work with you.

I'm massively salty and would never work for you either because I can see a trouble client from six miles away.

Think about it like this. $70 is about six hours of work at minimum wage. Putting aside that artists should earn more than minimum wage, six hours is unlikely to be enough to complete all the pieces of the project you're describing. Not to mention the transfer of rights. Not to mention the changes they'll need to make when you see the WIPs and final, because you'll almost certainly want changes. It's an absurd price for what you want and it's clear you didn't put any actual thought into the work that goes into what you want. Yeah, I'm salty.

I've never received a receipt from buying at a table (nor do I really expect to), but do you at least write down what you've sold for your own reference to keep track of inventory and income? I'll be tabling for the first time ever next weekend and I'm wondering if it'll be necessary.

>>9812272I know many artists who don't and get by just fine. Personally, I like to know statistics right away so I'm always keeping track to see what's popular and what's not. Also when you get to my level of options, keeping inventory is essential to know when to restock. If it's your first con I wouldn't worry about it too much but I think it's a good habit to start.

I don't keep track of item by item, because I've had too many instances where one customer immediately follows the next and I lose track of which items I need to write down because I'm trying to help the customers as fast as possible, but I do a full count before and after to figure out what's sold best and what needs restock.

>>9812461Yeah this, though I always end up giving away items for trades/to friends so if anything just recount your inventory after a con but write down your "free" merch so you know what to account for.

>>9812272I use the Square app's POS functions to keep track of sales. It's way faster than what I used to do by writing them all down.

It also helps by keeping track of what sales tax I need to take out. It doesn't take very long at all to punch in the stuff a customer has bought, and I can close out my drawer at the end of the day and make sure my cash is right. Another neat thing is to look up past cons' sales so I know what numbers I need to hit to beat last year's con.

If you put all of your items into categories you can see a breakdown of what category sells best, as well.

>>9812272I use to keep track of what I sell when I started out, but then I got bigger and went to bigger cons and keeping track what I sell became too confusing and took too much time to mark down.I just count up how much money I make and causally observe what sells the best. I also know from my Etsy shop what sells best and what doesn't too.

>>9812119I'm morbidly curious to know how artists do at AM this year especially with the boycott. I don't know if AM had every been a really huge artist con (like Akon, for example) so it'll the interesting to know if recent events affect artists as well

>>9812272I'm like >>9812276 and want to know my statistics right away. I make marks on graph paper so they're all the same size and I can tell at a glance visually what's selling well each day. It's not always super accurate because I'll miss things when I get a rush of customers, so I also tally stock at the end, but I like watching the impromptu bar graph throughout the con.

I'm looking to order charms for the first time and deciding to go with vograce -

Does anyone know which vograce has multiple color charm straps? Like options for red, blue, yellow, green, pink, purple etc? And do you know if they install it per-design? All i've found so far are the metal key rings and the regular black and white ones. Thanks!

>>9806385>>9806551>>9806572I should specify, I live and would be coming from southern Staten Island. The only ways to get into Manhattan from Staten Island is by express bus, car, or ferry.

To use the ferry, however, I'd have to first take the Staten Island railroad train. These train stations don't really have parking lots, and they're a distance from where I live. I'd have to take the Staten Island railroad to the ferry, and from the ferry take a subway train.

The bus would be the most convenient but I guess going home would be a pain in the ass.

Luckily my sister may be assisting me at the table, and her husband, who is a big comic book fan, may drive us in, so I may have door to door car service after all.

A friend of mine who agreed to assist me at my table asked if she could sell some of her artwork too. She said she'd only have 1 or 2 pieces but I'm not sure if the con will let me do that. She said she doesn't want to "take away my thunder" and intends the table to only focus on me, but I'm not sure how this arrangement could work...? I guess I'll have to ask the guy running the artist alley if she would be allowed to or if she would have to be registered as another artist. If she does have to be registered, she'd be able to probably take half the table, and while this sounds narcissistic, the table was supposed to mostly focus on promoting myself as an artist.

Or, should I just have her sneak in her 2 paintings to sell at my table without the artist alley manager knowing..?

>>9813175if you are sharing half a table with someone, you should mention it to the artist alley director. If you are letting your friend put one or two pieces on your table, then it doesn't matter. Every other con I go to I have a table partner who I let sell one or two of their things at my table. They only care if your table is dramatically different than what you signed up as.

>>9813175>>9813241Some cons might care, but those are like... Fanime who are supposedly strict about sharing since they have a juried system, but even then when we report sharing it doesn't do shit. If it's a FCFS or a Lottery style AA, I'm sure they don't care.

Also anon someone being registered to your table doesn't entitle them to half of the table? That's not how that works.

I've recently wanted to expand my stock to include buttons. What would be a safe number of buttons to order per design if I'm just testing out the waters? I want to see how they do and adjust how much I order next time from there.

>>9813553Chillypigs charms aren't double board they are the usual ink on the back of acrylic. The print quality is great, it's up there with Zap's. However, when my friend's travel hand sanitizer leaked in her pocket with her charms, the ink came clean off. I don't know if that's just to be expected but I had never seen another charm's ink dissipate so easily.

>>9813752>What would be a safe number of buttons to order per design if I'm just testing out the waters?I did two designs, 25 each for like $23 after taxes and done locally. Anything lesser quantity would've costed about the same so I thought why not - really stupid mistake since I have a bunch still, slowly selling some. After that experience, I would do 3-5 per design.

Can a portfolio bag be counted as a carryon item? I wonder if there is a weight limit, because I’ve heard that people can carry photo stands as carryon items. I’m trying to avoid putting ny prints in my checked bags because they will most definitely go over 50lbs.

>>9814410Depends on the airline. Example - I can't bring my photo stand as a carryon for Delta but I know some people who have the same one that have no problems getting it onto Southwest flights. You'll just have to check airline websites.

>>9814410Are you talking about those large portfolio cases that art students have? Because those are definitely too large and would get in the way for carry on I imagine...

There is sometimes weight limit usually for carry ons but it's usually not a huge deal unless you obviously struggle to carry your bag. Individual airlines usually have that information up, as it varies from airline to airline.

I generally do southwest and in my exp they care more about the dimensions than the weight, I normally carry a backpack that hovers around 40-50 lbs as a carryon. No ones ever asked to weigh it but I have been asked to put it in a bucket to confirm the dimensions are within the rules.

>>9814621Oops, I should add, if you decide to take your prints and they're super heavy. Make sure you can either fit the portfolio under the seat or lift it above your head on your own. I have seen people forced to check bags that were too heavy for the attendant to lift into the overhead.

>>9813403>Also anon someone being registered to your table doesn't entitle them to half of the table? That's not how that works.

Oh no, I'm not asking them if they should take up half the table. Obviously if they want to really sell and promote their stuff, maybe we'd agree upon splitting the table as artists. In this case however, my friend is just assisting me, but I made the mistake of saying that the con this takes place at allows artists of all kinds. So she wanted to know if maybe she can sell one or two paintings. She is more of a traditional painter while I'm selling my own comic books, prints, and doing sketch commissions.

Im kinda in between a rock and a hard place because I guess I could ask her to split a table with me, but I also don't want to since I have a lot I want to sell and display.

Tl;Dr. Person I asked to assist a table with me asks if she could sell one or two pieces. I feel like it could turn into her wanting to split a table when I just want the table's focus to be on me.

>>9814688If she wants to sell one or two pieces, it should be fine, but if they're too big, or if she has enough stuff that it could take up half the table, it would make sense to split it. However if you want the entire table to focus on you, just tell her that all the stuff you're bringing won't fit on only half a table and that you need the full table. Don't let assistants take advantage.

>>9814688Its all really up to you anon, you're not really obligated to share with her and just politely explain you don't have the table room.

Personally I think that if she puts up one or two (small) pieces it's not gonna effect you much and would be a nice gesture for an assistant but again, you are not obligated to even extend that much really. If she's assisting you, you can compensate her in other ways (food, badge, etc)

>>9814806If you do decide to put up some of her pieces draw a hard line. Know which pieces ahead of time and don’t let her put up any others so she can’t slippery slope you into a confrontation or something

>>9814688If you don’t have the table space, just let her know. I’ve had friends push me into bring “one or two things” to put on my table and they gave me an entire bag full of their stock and expected me to make sales for them all weekend. I also have friends who were taken advantage of by their ex-friends agreeing to be their helper and asking for a little bit of space only to bring their entire inventory.

Business is business. Like the other anon said - don’t be afraid to draw hard lines and stick to them

hey guys, I'm considering making my very first charms from vograce but they haven't even responded to my quote orders and its been a few days, I've asked a couple times already (Coco) and once to Vicky but her prices were so high?.

One thing im also super concerned about is design protection, has anyone had any problems with stolen art? Are there any terms or services that they have that I might be missing?

Should I just print acrylic charms locally in the US for ease of mind? am I being crazy lol

>>9815072I have never noticed a huge difference between Coco and Vicky's prices, though I've stopped using Coco over a year ago since she had so many more customers. If you order high quantities (like, 100pc or more of a size/style) it's usually relatively cheap. If you order 50pc of a certain size then it'll be like 25% more expensive in my experience.

I don't think I've ever heard of anyone who manufactured from Vograce specifically having their designs stolen. Other manufacturers yes, but never Vograce. Vograce has such a large international customer base now because of Artist Alley so I don't think they would risk it desu.

Also recent conversation about Vograce being more expensive recently is so silly imo. They could raise their prices like 50c per and I still wouldn't complain because it's still loads cheaper than Western manus and they put together the charms/keychains for you. It's pretty much half the price for twice the labor.

>>9815112I used to order through Vicky and switched to Coco. Yeah, it's a bit more expensive, but man I'm okay with paying that tiny bit more if it's in exchange for someone who actually replies to my emails and doesn't fight with me over each decision/correction.

>>9815119Vicky has been responding to me but not Coco. Vicky just took over Coco's email and was like hey we're the same company same prices! I feel kinda bad because I just wanted to see what other pages were quoting but only Vicky has responded to me so far!

im making 1.5 inch charms, and am deciding on straps to put on them, and i see people using these cute braided ones. But... how do you adorn these straps when your charm is larger than the loop? Doesnt the charm have to be small enough to fit through the loop?? I keep seeing so many giant ass charms that are way bigger that have no way of fitting through that loop... am i missing something??

>>9815112I don't really mind their prices or that they're raising them, just that they seem to do it pretty often, I guess? It's just that when I've budgeted a certain amount for my charms expecting a certain unit price or even cheaper when I'm ordering almost 5x as many charms as I did before (e.g. in a group order), it hits pretty hard when it turns out nearly $300 more than what I estimated. Or idk, maybe I'm just shit at calculation. Luckily charms are big money makers but I guess I'd like to be more certain about how much they're going to cost me.

>>9815229no but how about the ones that don't come with a lobster clasp? I see some charms that don't have it (this picture i found does though) I'm just trying to wrap my head around it.. maybe im just dumb lol.

>>9815230They're probably just too small then. At a con, customers actually probably won't notice (though as a seller you should not fuck people over like this lol). So it's up to the customer to find a way to remove the lanyard, attach it to whatever they need to, and put it back on.

>>9815165I understand being frustrated but...this person isn't terrible? they are able to draw in a lot of different styles and different fandoms, which will appeal to more people. I can see why they would get taken off the waitlist.

I suspect that some people don't actually think about it. They see other artists using them and they just clip on the lobster side and it doesn't occur to them that in order for a person to use the other end after they buy it, the charm has to fit through it...

>>9815165I mean she's a great artist, but her focus seems to be on what's currently popular first instead of promoting her identity as an artist.

It's tricky because people will eat up fanart. But if an artist is doing fanart among a spectrum of entertainment, like anime, movies, tv shows, videogames, musicals, cartoons, etc, at least have a coherent style.

An example of this is Sakimichan. She'll draw Overwatch, Steven Universe, Disney princesses, Lola Bunny, etc, and you can tell they're all from the same artist.

When you do fanart, you don't want people to say "awesome, a picture of Batman" you want someone to say "awesome, a picture of Batman drawn by..." idk... "Adam Hughes!"

You want to build an identity as an artist first before subject matter.

Is it a bad idea if you and your table partner both have merch from overlapping fandoms or of the same characters? We don’t make enough to table alone but we keep drawing from the same shows and the same characters. I don’t want it to end up becoming a competition because I know customers won’t buy 2 of the same character from one table to just make one of us not feel bad...

>>9815619Some competition is going to be inevitable. But if you have charms or small prints and your partner is up for it I'd suggest doing some kind of character discount where if they buy both you take a dollar or two off the price or something. Itabaggers (the ones who buy fan merch anyways) for example would likely jump on that.

>>9815230I use these braided straps for my charms and they didn't come with the lobster clasps or split rings, so I ordered the parts separately. My charms (1.5 in) usually go braid->split ring->lobster clasp->split ring->charm if that makes sense.

>>9815165I just saw this person's tweet about getting off a waitlist. Are you sure they're not talking about the fanime hotel waitlist? A lot of others tweeted about it too. It's too early for AA waitlist results.

>>9814524What portfolio bag? Did you read my post? You mean the photo stand bag? Yes, I have to check it and pay baggage fees. It's not like the normal freebie gate check.

Also I know it doesn't matter with southwest since all they fly are 737s, but otherwise you'll want to check on the type of plane you'll be flying, since you might be SOL with overhead space if you're flying a small Embraer or CRJ.

>>9815623I mainly do one character portraits because I dont see the point in putting too much work, drawing multiple characters when attendee's will shell out $15 of a print with their ONE favorite character on it.

>>9816019>>9815623I mainly do single character stuff, while my table partner does group prints and I won't lie, they sell a lot better than I do.

There can be a lot of factors like subject matter, fandom, etc (I would say our skill level is similar but our styles are pretty different) so I wouldn't immediately say group > individual, but that's how I've noticed it.

I think people like individual charms but group prints (unless your single character print stands out) but honestly it's a mixed bag, all dependent on how you personally appeal to audiences.

>>9815619There is definitely competition. My table partner and I started off with a lot of the same fandoms and it was a little tense because as much as we like each other, it's hard not to or think much about it when one of our designs sells more than the other person's. You can either agree to split fandoms or share one or two fandoms, but I'd avoid sharing too many series, cause it starts to Feel Bad TM in both positions--it just gets awkward when people are like "OMG THAT'S SO CUTE!!" to one side and not the other, etc.

And basically what >>9816029 said, it depends on your styles and appeal.

>>9816121Re: the so cute comments, I long stopped giving a fuck about those if they're not gonna talk with their wallets. It's one thing if it's artists socializing but drive by kawaiis can go fuck themselves.

This is a question for all artists- do you pay taxes on what you sell? Are you supposed to? I know an artist who doesn’t file her taxes and I want to make sure if that’s something that’s supposed to be done

is the free packaging from vograce acceptable or presentable enough to sell with? or is it easily resealable (if i take out, customize the charm/take off peels and put it back in)? or do you think new clear bags should be bought?

In general yes you're supposed to file taxes, always, every year, and anything you earn is supposed to be taxed unless there are specific, unusual circumstances which can vary state to state. If your friend is making only a few hundred dollars per year at cons, and is still dependent, it's possible she might not have to pay, but she still needs to file taxes and report her earnings.

Tell your friend that only a few years of not paying taxes on con sales can accrue potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and if the govt finds out about it, they have the power to just literally take it from your bank accounts.

Does fanime actually provide table skirting for the sides? I checked a youtube video from last year reviewing artist alley and it looked like just about everyone had the same royal blue skirting. But I checked the artist alley site and it said they do not provide skirting? Which is it? Also does anyone know how tall the table is?

They almost always do because the tables they use are garbage and full of staples and splinters and shit, so they have to cover them with plastic and staple skirts on them so you can't see how much tetanus they're carrying. I would be astonished if they dropping skirting this year, it's pretty standard for most conventions. They're the standard height for a folding table, google that and give yourself a few inches to play with if you're building a high display.

>>9817234They've provided skirting in the past but as a rule of thumb I usually bring two table cloths with me. I use really light weight cotton so weights not usually an issue for travel. The second I usually use as a table cover at the end of the day, but it can be skirting in the event the con I'm at doesn't provide any, which has happened before.

>>9816805>>9816837>>9817088Not the first anon, but I'm trying to get into tabling for AAs. If I got accepted to two local cons, how do I go about the taxes paperwork? Do I register my store as a business/get a business license? I tried reading up on this, but it was all very confusing (including the whole temporary business tax id license). Sorry if this seems idiotic.

How that stuff works varies from state to state and district to district. When I started tabling our tax/licensing district didn't actually know how to categorize artist alley. They're still kind of confused about it. The thing that worked best for me was actually showing up to the office and sitting with a rep and explaining what I do, and they helped me get something that kind of worked. For the out of state cons I've gone to, the con itself has provided info on how to apply for licenses or permits. They all have different rules about when you need to file and pay your tax as well, so pay attention to that. Sales tax/permits filing is completely separate from your federal tax filing, so don't assume you do it all at once there.

Might be a longshot but does anyone have any favorite minimalist booth setups for inspiration? I only have a few products to sell, and I'm trying to figure out how to lay out my table without looking like a sad, empty space. Google is not serving me well since most folks have very full tables.

>>9817421Sales are pretty good at AFest. From my experience (might vary- other artists please give input), it's one of the last few anime anime conventions so fanart of western fandoms doesn't do as well as fanart of whatever the FOTM anime is.

>>9817850Just a couple small prints - there's few enough of them that I can prop them up on the table itself. Although since I have so much spare space I'm going to start bringing along some of my friends' items for sale, which is more t shirts and small patches.

>>9817468The advise I will always give is call the tax office for the state you'll be selling in. Usually you can tell them you'll be selling things you made at a multi-day convention and they will tell you exactly what you need. It does vary every state (and sometimes counties and cities), some you'll need to apply for a business license and other have a temporary form specifically for fairs and the like. Those are my favorite states.

State and federal income tax will be different but you can probably ask the rep about it too.

are frosted acrylic charms as sought after as clear acrylic? and should they be priced the same? I'm thinking about making some frosty ones but am wondering if its worth it for the price - especially if its only one sided

>>9818288At this point, most customers judge charms by size + any extra embellishments. Customers barely notice the difference between a nice ink it clear charm and one of those sandwiched opaque vograce charms.

You might be able to get away with charging a dollar or two extra anyways, as I've seen stuff like small colored acrylic charms still get charged for $12. Maybe add some cheap beads to it to make it seem more "worth it" to customers.

anyone have any ideas for displaying a bunch of embroidered patches? I do machine embroidery at home, so I have a whole bunch of different designs (as opposed to most ppl usually having a couple different designs cause they order them from somewhere) and i can't say i remember seeing any examples of how other people have done it.

I got in. I love doing A-fest. This year should be more chill since I'm not trying to do guest stuff this year. I don't expect the con to be as good sales wise as last year, but that's what happens when they have mega high profile guests one year and regular tier the next.

>>9818461Depends on the size of print you are talking about, like postcard prints I've seen under $5 if not $7.

There's only so low you could price your stuff but doesn't mean you should. Having to undercut other artists also means undervaluing the art community. While it could cost an artist to print 25cent a sheet, there's still the time they invested in making the print they have to consider while pricing.

>>9818469The art I draw I do for my entertainment mostly, and besides if I sell a 11x14 for 5 dollars and sell a bunch won't my profit margins still be good? plus I get more exposure I guess (more people own my work).

>>9818509In that case you should plan to never need anything ever from another artist in the alley, because this way of thinking is a sure way of getting others to dislike you. In fact, you'll probably get artists complaining to your face like that other girl.

>>9818509This is assuming you sell a bunch, though. Also you'd need to make up for the cost of the table and transportation, etc. But aside from that, like >>9818525 said be prepared to get hated on for undervaluing the AA.

>>9818461Nothing wrong with it at all, but it's a bit silly. Even if you are only doing art as a hobby, isn't it nice to make back things like your table cost and have money to put towards expenses for your hobby? You could meet in the middle, say $10 when the going rate is $20. You'd still be the cheapest by far, but you'd also make extra money.

>>9818509the 'exposure from selling at conventions'thing is a fucking lie, you might get a few more followers but if you're serious about upping your audience its far more effective to spend your time and money developing your social media

>>9818461Agreeing with what >>9818561 said. If you go for $10 per print, that's still within a "normal" range for prints while still being on the cheaper side of things for attendees. (Some of the midwestern comic conventions I've been to have $10 as the going rate for prints anyway due to the cost of living being lower there.) It's also much less likely to make other artists think less of you so it's a happy compromise.

Not to mention that you're not just taking into account the cost of your table + transportation but also the actual TIME you spend manning your table. Unless you plan on leaving your table for long periods of time to attend panels but the AA heads generally tend to frown on unmanned tables.

Even if you don't value your own work and just consider it a hobby for yourself, you are still setting a value in people's minds. Artists already struggle enough with getting people to value their work, and it sets everyone back when one artist breaks ranks and says "actually i think art like mine and done for these reasons is only worth this much". People can use that to shame artists who charge more, which is what happened with that other artist who was selling $5 prints. It's even worse for artists who are not as skilled as you, who might need the money, and see you pricing down. They might feel like their art is worthless in comparison if you feel like your own work isn't worthwhile.

Sorry if it's been asked before, but what do you guys think is the best option for trying to sell original character art at a big anime con like Fanime or AX?

I'll have most of my table as fanart, still, of course! But also any original art would probably be aesthetic OC art. I love food charms and other original merch like that but I'm not big/great on making them myself. Definitely would stick with paper goods because I'm not nearly established enough for people to buy anything else, but I'm not sure about print or postcard sizes...

>>9818646Ntayt but what if you aren't as good as other artists in the AA and have your prints around $5? I feel like I'm kind of not that skilled as other artists in the AA, so I charge $3 for small prints, and $5 for large.

I remember what happened with that one girl who did $5 prints at Animazement, but she was actually good.

I also haven't done any big name cons yet, so I think charging low is ok with cons with less than 1k people?

>>9818906Seriously can't remember? I kind of have a problem where I think I'm the shittiest person in the AA and I think everyone else is better than me, so it's hard for me to judge "worse" people.Yes I am trying to work on my art to get better...why I haven't gone too deep onto large cons too.

Seconding the sticky note proposal. I won't buy art of a character I don't know, but I'll opt in for an original if I know it's there. A lot of attendees are too anxious or shy to ask if art is original because they don't want to look stupid for not knowing the character.

So if you wanna go by profit margins as they work beyond art a print that costs $1 to make is still supposed to be worth a minimum of $6.25 so at $5 you're already undercutting yourself by 20%.

20% of anything is fucking huge if you really think it through - if you were gaining 20% every year on any sort of money you're making you're essentially beating out the stock market since a 7-10% gain on an annual basis is considered great.

And this doesn't even begin to cover all the other expenses the other anons have already mentioned.

>>9818915The philosophy's still the same, then. There are people worse than you (in your opinion or objectively) out there who are charging in the same range as someone who you think is pretty good and still making enough money to break even. That's the basis for pricing yourself into the rest of the market.I do mainly small cons and I don't perceive myself as being as good/popularly-appealing as a lot of the other people I see in AA, so I price myself on the lower end, with 8x11s at $10 and 11x17s at $15. The only way you could justify charging as little as you do is if it were for a damaged/miscut print, period.

How rude is it of event runners to be "in desperate need" of vendors, personally approach you in person to ask if you'd like to vend because they "really love" your art and go on about how no one is signing up, but then when you say you'll consider it, they still insist you pay the $125 table fee and refuse to haggle. This has happened to me twice between February and now by two different town events (as my town is crackhead central and grasping at strings in last efforts to keep the remaining 3 shops from moving away lol).

Honestly, it's such a bummer to see an artist constantly undervaluing themselves, even if they aren't that skilled. There are artists whose skill I highly respect who still have this mentality, constantly deleting their own works because they feel they aren't up to par, and it's depressing and makes me not want to support them. No one's going to be a fan of your work if you don't personally value it and stop comparing it to others. There are worse people than you who think they're hot stuff, I guarantee it. No one's going to judge you for not talking down your own work and making excuses for it constantly. Even if you don't feel brave, just pretend you do, it really makes a world of difference about how people look at your work.

>>9818925>>9818847>>9818883Thanks you guys! I was thinking of the sticky note idea but wasn’t sure if that was common practice or not, glad to hear that’s a good idea! Going to try my best to get in one big original print then!

>>9818929Isn't this formula the same for other merch like charms, buttons, bags etc though?And what about people who do bundle pricing like by 2 get 1 free, or buy 2 get for $X monies? Are those people undercutting themselves really bad? Whats a good rule of thumb for bundles so that we dont lose too much money but the customer still feels like they got a good deal?

Let's say it costs you $1.50 to produce a charm. Going by anon's formula, the wholesale price would be $3.75 and the retail price per charm would be $9.37. Most people price their charms around $12-$15. If you did a buy two get one free deal, ideally the total amount you receive from the customer should be around $28.11 ($9.37 x 3) or greater. So if you decide to do B2G1, you should price your charms at $15 so you are essentially selling 3 charms for $30. If you want to price at $12, a better discount model to follow is 2 for $20 instead of B2G1. (You're making $10 per charm that way instead of $8 per charm with B2G1.)

All my discounts are generally tend to be $5 off the total cost. ("1 for $30, 2 for $55" or "1 for $15, 2 for $25") The only exception here is 11 x 17 prints which I sell for $15 each or buy two get one free because that is generally the standard pricing around AAs.

>>9819084Same anon. If someone undersells themselves just because they feel their stuff isn't worth it I dont support them. Shit I dont believe my stuff is worth the price, but I know I need to make money and I believe in 'fake it till you make it'. Unless youre god awful bad trust me people will enjoy and buy your work

So I really love doing digital portrait paintings, but honestly I am quite terrible at making backgrounds and full body shots. How likely is it that I'll be able to get accepted into cons with only portraits in my profile?

I read sometime ago that you're more likely to be rejected if you don't have any "full body shots" is that true? I haven't started my portfolio yet, so I don't know.

Furry cons are legit. Breakfast AND lunch with a vendor ticket??? This will be my 2nd furry con. the first I went to included free breakfast desserts and milk. These cons are small, so I won't be making much, but I sure wish all cons treated their vendors this well. Some cons don't even give us vendors special parking.

>>9820240The biggest con in my country doesn't even give artists two chairs. You have to pay over 1k for a dealers table for them to give you the privilege of two chairs for your table. This makes me mad with envy.

>>9820238it's more like that you'll be rejected for lack of variety. Plenty of artists do sell at cons doing just portraits though - you just have to be good enough.

I'd recommend starting to incorporate full bodies and environments though, if only because the best time to start improving is now and it'll make you a better, more versatile artist